Toyota: Double victory at 100th WEC race đ„
PERFECT At the second race of the season in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), Toyota Gazoo Racing rewarded itself with a double victory. The victory extends the team's lead in the constructors' championship to 22 points. SĂ©bastien Buemi finally crossed the finish line in first place, preserving his unblemished track record. The Eight Hours of Portimao was won by SĂ©bastien Buemi, [...]
SĂ©bastien Buemi finally crossed the finish line in first place, preserving his unblemished track record.
At the Portimao Eight Hours, SĂ©bastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima and Brendon Hartley in the GR010 Hybrid won by 1.8 seconds ahead of their team-mates in the sister car driven by reigning world champions Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and JosĂ© MarĂa LĂłpez.
Fight for every meter and every second
After the thrilling battle of the hypercars at the season opener in Spa, the WEC race in Portugal was another close fight. SĂ©bastien Buemi and JosĂ© MarĂa LĂłpez started the race from grid positions two and three behind the Alpine. At the first refueling stops, the three front runners were separated by just ten seconds.
The Alpine required additional pit stops over the entire race distance due to the smaller tank, but benefited from the lighter tank and shorter stops.
After 75 laps ten seconds Abstand
When Brendon Hartley and Mike Conway took over their respective cars shortly before the two-hour mark, a close race developed. As before, the gap between the three leaders in the hypercar class was just ten seconds after 75 laps.
Thrilling finish between cars #7 and #8
A "full course yellow" slowed the race with 30 minutes to go and MarĂa LĂłpez brought the #7 into the pits for a short refueling stop. He returned to the track three seconds behind SĂ©bastien Buemi in the #8, setting up a thrilling finish.
SĂ©bastien Buemi eventually crossed the finish line first, preserving his unblemished track record in the GR010 Hybrid. MarĂa LĂłpez in the #7 followed immediately behind before the Alpine crossed the finish line.
The hypercar class really comes to life
Team boss Hisatake Murata: "A one-two is the perfect way to celebrate our 100th world championship race. We had to fight for this victory and it was exciting to see how the top three hypercars battled for every tenth of a second. No one could afford to make even the slightest mistake. The hypercar class is really coming to life right now and I expect fans to see a lot of close battles in the next few races."
The next WEC race of the season will take place on July 18 in Monza, Italy.
